


Misty mountains and misted eyes.

by J_animelover6



Series: Anecdotes of the lives of child soldiers [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, No Romance, Reminiscing, Story within a Story, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27989907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_animelover6/pseuds/J_animelover6
Summary: Before Mist was tainted in the red of the Mizukage's reign, it was a beautiful place to be, every morning the mountains would be painted purple, pink and gold, the mist draped over the shoulders of the peaks like an ethereal scarf. No matter which caste you were from, you could admire the village's beauty.
Relationships: Haku & Momochi Zabuza
Series: Anecdotes of the lives of child soldiers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924894
Kudos: 2





	Misty mountains and misted eyes.

It was a cold winter evening and two hooded figures sat in the back of Izakaya, a tavern for weary travellers in the middle of Rain Country. True to its name it was bucketing down outside, thunder rumbling like an angry Bijuu and the clouds promising hail. It had been hot and humid the entire day, an indicator of a fierce afternoon storm. It reminded Zabuza of the summertime in Kiri, except it was significantly colder than Rain and as Kirigakure was tucked high up in the mountains the storms were more sporadic and there were less warning signs as to when the weather would change. It was sort of like a pregnant woman's mood, although he would much rather deal with turbulent weather.

A dark-skinned waitress limped over to their table to take their order but he shooed her away, he didn't trust tavern food - it was too easily poisoned and as a missing-nin, he had to be cautious. "Are you sure your daughter wouldn't want anything to eat sir?" The one-legged woman turned and asked while walking back to the bar area. 

"No." Zabuza snapped, glancing over to Haku who just sat there with a deceptively sweet smile on his face that hid his slight annoyance at being mistaken for a girl once again. One would think that after a while he would get used to being thought of as a girl but it seemed he still had a sliver of pride left. The boy was only nine. The two travelling companions sat in silence and just listened to the hubbub around them and the rain beating on the roof like it was a drum. 

"Zabuza-san," Haku whispered and he grunted in response, "Do you think we'll ever go back to Kiri?" He stiffened at the question. It had barely been a year since the coup had miserably failed and he'd been on the run with Haku. Even though he'd never admit it out loud he missed Kiri, the one before the Mizukage snapped and began executing people left and right. The man had fallen victim to the ruler cycle; dictators like him go insane under the pressure and then end up murdering people. It had been viewed throughout history and across courts, it was unfortunate that it had happened to their Kage and Jinchuruki. Corruption, governments' most popular disease.

He sighed, "I don't know, kid." Haku's face fell for a split moment before he scrambled to pick it up again and forced that thin smile on his face that he used to hide his pain. Zabuza could see right through it though and it made the still living corner of his heart twinge. 

"I miss it." Confessed Haku, staring down at the scratched table with a fixed expression. Zabuza did too, he missed watching the sun rise over the peaks and it dyeing the blankets of mist a soft yellow or pink. He wanted to watch another harvest festival, have blue and green powder thrown over him as the performers in the parade passed by and then head over to the arena to watch their strongest Shinobi spar and then sneak out with his friends when the worst of the prisoners would be executed. His parents had been a part of the court so they had to preside over the public executions, which meant he would be left unattended and able to hang out with his friends from the third caste. He missed his home but Kiri would no longer welcome him, he'd be the one pitted against tigers, Chakraless, while the people he had grown up with cheered on. It made him wonder, had his comrades from the rebellion made it out alive? 

Haku broke him out of his thoughts with a cough, "Did you hear what I said?" 

Shit, he hadn't. No spacing out allowed! Who knew when they had to run for their lives again.

"Repeat." 

Haku snorted, "Tell me what it was like before...it all went wrong." 

"Sure," Zabuza mumbled and shrugged, he often forgot that for all of Haku's grace, power and talent that he'd been born right at the bottom of the food chain and had never actually explored the village proper, "It was easily the most beautiful village out of all of them. With towering structures carved into the surrounding mountains that led to the centre of the valley where the main buildings were. They were dark grey cylinders like a smoothed chunk of volcanic rock with plants cascading down them that in the Spring had the most beautiful yellow or blue flowers." Haku's eyes began to glow as he imagined what it must've looked like.

The grim expression he had been wearing softened as he recalled his earliest memories for the kid that sat across from him, "In the winter it was like looking at a snow globe most of the time. One day it could be sunny with only a couple of clouds in the sky and then overnight everything is covered in a layer of white and the mist is so thick you can barely see outside your window. If you travelled down the mountain on the Northside, after a day you could see the ocean and then the next you would be on the shore. This was before the curfews and travel restrictions were put in place." He bit down on his tongue to subdue his anger. No longer was Kiri the place he remembered from early childhood, and even those memories were few and far between - the rest overpowered and tainted by the blood he had shed and taken from others for the past eleven years. Kiri had become a prison, even while he was still serving loyally. He had hoped the rebellion, he, would be able to break the chains the Mizukage had placed on everyone, wipe away the despair, but he had failed. The rebellion was scattered and he was on the run with some kid with ice powers he'd met a year ago.

Was there any hope left for the village he had once called home?


End file.
